Justice News

Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

WASHINGTON - Stanley R. MacKinnon, 66, of Haverhill, Mass., pleaded guilty today to five counts of receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Carmen M. Ortiz and Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

MacKinnon pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel in Boston. MacKinnon was indicted on July 14, 2010. The charges against him were the result of an ongoing national investigation by USPIS of individuals who purchase child pornography via U.S. mail. In pleading guilty, MacKinnon admitted to ordering and purchasing child pornography movies depicting prepubescent minors, and receiving the movies via U.S. mail. MacKinnon also admitted to possessing images of child pornography that he had produced himself approximately 30 years ago.

MacKinnon is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16, 2011. MacKinnon faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and possible restitution.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

The case against MacKinnon was investigated by USPIS and the Haverhill Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael I. Yoon of the District of Massachusetts and CEOS Trial Attorney Bonnie L. Kane of the Criminal Division.